Carolina Panthers Roller Coaster Year: Coach Ron Rivera's House Caught On Fire, Family Out Safely But Damages Cost $500,000 [VIDEO]

It has truly been one heck of a year for the Carolina Panthers, as MStars News learned that coach Ron Rivera and his family are doing just fine after a house fire caused a large amount of damage to their home early Monday morning.

According to ESPN, firefighters were called to the Panthers' head coach's home after smoke detectors went off, as the Rivera family members made their way out of the blazing house.

Panthers spokesman Charlie Dayton announced that everyone in the house got out OK.

"Everybody is OK, and that's the most important thing," Dayton revealed.

The Charlotte Fire Department determined that the fire was an accident, and was caused by the fireplace. The damages are appearing to be $500,000.

Rivera revealed that his brothers had been watching football games all day as the fireplace stayed on.

"They're football junkies and they were watching football all day. They had the fireplace on for quite a few hours," the Panthers coach said. "When we got done that night and when I got home and watched the end of the game and shut it down and went to bed it somehow just smoldered and kicked into high gear later on."

Rivera's sister-in-law noted that there were six people in the house when the fire started. She named the following: Rivera, his wife Stephanie, his two brothers and their wives.

The site reports that it took 55 firefighters to battle the flames that broke out at 4 a.m. ET.

"You are looking at a large house with damage to the roof and attic area," Capt. Rob Brisley, a department spokesman, stated. "Anytime you are faced with a fire and your family is displaced, it is significant for the homeowner and it is significant for the family. We are just grateful that there are no injuries."

"We're fortunate we live in a terrific neighborhood," Rivera said. "A lot of Panther fans, that was huge. It most certainly did speak very highly to southern hospitality and neighborly feelings towards one another."

"We're very fortunate, but we're all right," he continues, "This opportunity to work, opportunity to continue to work, is very reassuring. This could have been worse, like Cam's situation could have been worse, but it wasn't. So we're very fortunate, and we're not going to look back. In a lot of ways, like I said, it's kind of like It's a Wonderful Life. You realize, you recognize and you understand. You see things through a different set of eyes now. It wasn't quite as harrowing, but none the less, it's there. I hope everybody understands that Stephanie and I are OK. We're very fortunate."

The Panthers were also grateful to have quarterback Cam Newton after he was out due to a car crash a couple of weeks ago, that could have been deadly.

The Panthers continue their playoff season taking on the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday January, 10 at 8:15 PM.